


Far From Home

by TearsoftheMoon17



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alive Original Prince James, Alive Robin Hood, Blind Harry Potter, Disabled Harry Potter, Gen, Harry has different parents, Lily and James Potter aren't Harry's biological parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-06-08 10:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6851005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TearsoftheMoon17/pseuds/TearsoftheMoon17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hades and Zelena share a secret that they have to fight to keep hidden from their enemies. Wanting to escape the Underworld, Emma and the gang use the quill to try to find Hades' weakness, but they find it's something unexpected: a boy named Harry. Uncovering this secret brings two opposing sides to the Underworld, determined that this "weakness" shouldn't exist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Though I have this fanfic up on fanfiction.net, I decided to put it up here as well. Some people don't use both sites so I figured putting the fanfic here as well wouldn't hurt. Please keep in mind that I have joined AO3 recently so I am not familiar with its way of doing things. (Seriously, this site is really different from fanfiction.net.) I'm going to try to have all five chapters up soon, but it takes forever to format them. -_- Also, I would like everyone to keep in mind that I started this fanfic late March so things will not line up with OUAT's canon. Example: James is alive (you know, David's twin brother). Hope you enjoy~

“So how do we do this?” Emma asked the people around her, gesturing to Henry and the quill.

“How we will get the quill to write Hades’ story?” Regina hummed thoughtfully, eying the quill on the table.

“I imagine that it already knows what to do. It simply needs someone to wield it and guide it as it writes the story.”

“Are you saying that it’s . . . sentient?” Robin asked her, struggling with the idea.

Regina arched an eyebrow. “The pen died in a sense and ended up here in the Underworld, but the thought that the pen could be aware is what baffles you?”

“Noted,” Robin replied with a smile.

“We have seen weirder things,” David admitted. “It’s not that strange, I suppose.”

“Then I should get to it. The sooner we know what Hades is hiding, the sooner we can go home,” Henry said, gathering the book, quill and ink before settling down on a couch.

Hook gestured to table that Henry was just at. “What was wrong with doing it at the table?”

Henry shrugged. “I wanted to be comfortable. I don’t know how long it’ll take.”

As his family chuckled around him, Henry opened the storybook and went to the very back where Hades’ story had once been. He carefully opened the ink and dipped the quill into it, not letting a drop go to waste. He moved to begin recording Hades’ tale, but realized that there were no more pages. This did not worry Henry, however, and he opened his mouth to ask one of his mothers to magically give the book more pages. The storybook knew of this need and did not give Henry the chance to speak before growing more blank pages.

“Wow,” Henry murmured before pressing the quill onto the page, letting its knowledge flow into his fingertips.

Though he did not instantly know Hades’ entire story and what Hades wished for no one to know, Henry knew the words as he wrote them, but did not follow them with his eyes. Henry’s eyes could not see the pages and was only vaguely aware that he was writing. Instead, his eyes were seeing the words unfold and transform into pictures of the past. He was completely immersed in the story he was help write down . . .

Hades was in the Underworld with the different colored rivers going into different directions, pacing with what Henry could only describe as worry. He held a letter in his hands, clutching it as if he couldn’t let it go. Hades’ gray eyes were locked onto the written words and reread until he could not resist his urge any longer.

_“I have to go see her,” Hades said to himself. “I have to know.”_

_With a wave of his hand, Hades brought forth a boat on the green river and settled down with a grace that Henry would never know. The boat moved forward, taking Hades down the river to his destination. The picture changed, morphing as it skipped forward to a room as green as that river. Henry searched the room and spotted Hades ascending the stairs to an occupied throne._

_“Is it true?”_

_Hades’ voice was softer than Henry thought it could ever be. Whoever Hades was talking to, they were important enough to him that he was kind. Who could it be? A sibling? A friend?_

_“While I always enjoy a bit of fun, I would never lie about this, Hades.” That voice—Zelena?!_

Henry lurched out of his trance, dropping the quill onto the page. His vision swam as he attempted to shake off the haziness that lingered after seeing the past. He distantly heard his family talk to him and lay him down. His mouth opened and closed, unable to respond as he blinked. He was finally able to see clearly, but his mind was still in turmoil from the information he had just learned.

“What happened to him?”

“His eyes were clouded. Do you think he was seeing the events he was writing down?”

“You don’t think it hurt him, do you?”

Henry heard enough to know that if he didn’t respond in some way, his family was going to continue to worry. Struggling to sit up, he wiped his eyes before speaking. “I’m fine. I just thrown out of . . . my trance before the quill was done writing.”

Emma held his right shoulder. “You’re sure you’re fine?”

Henry nodded. “Yes, but that’s not important right now. I think I know what Hades wanted to hide.”

“Do tell,” Hook encouraged. “When I was writing, I saw Hades in his . . . throne room, I guess, and he had gotten a letter from someone. He was really worried and went down one of his rivers, the green one. He ended up in Oz.”

Robin grimaced. “That’s not reassuring.”

Henry continued. “He met with Zelena and asked her if it was true. That’s when the vision ended.”

“If what’s true?” Snow questioned, crossing her arms as she tried to come up with scenarios.

“I don’t know.”

Regina mirrored Snow’s actions, thinking out loud. “When did Hades meet my sister? What exactly were they to each other?”

“Off the top of my head, I’d say they were involved,” Hook answered.

“Disgusting,” Regina sneered.

“We don’t actually have any evidence of that, though,” David argued. “For all we know, they were partners in crime at one point.”

“Why hide that, though?” Emma replied, her right hand on her hip. “It just doesn’t seem all that important enough to make sure we didn’t know.”

Snow nodded in agreement. “I think Emma’s on to something. Why would he go through the trouble to make sure we didn’t find out he and Zelena knew each other? It doesn’t really give us anything to work with or use against him.”

“Unless there’s more to the story,” Robin said.

“Robin’s right. There has to be more. We just need to know what it is,” Regina said, eying Henry.

“I could start again—” Henry quickly responded, eager to be helpful.

A resounding “no” was spoken by all of the adults around Henry.

“Henry, though you don’t have magic, you were using magic for the first time. You were able to use it for only a couple of minutes before you couldn’t anymore. You can’t force this. You’ll have to take this slow like learning to ride a bike,” Regina explained.

“But we don’t have time to take it slow!”

Regina smiled. “I know that. That’s why instead of you writing and seeing the past, you’ll write a couple of sentences and bring the past to us.”

Robin groaned. “You don’t mean—”

“We bring Zelena to us. Surely she’ll know something useful.”

“What if she doesn’t want to help us?” David voiced everyone’s doubt.

“Well, then she’ll have to answer to the Author, now won’t she?” Regina replied, winking at Henry who grinned.

“I better get to writing then.”

*******Line Break*******

Zelena couldn’t stop the smile from growing on her face. With Regina believing she was in Oz and not in this supposedly non-magical world, she was free to do something she had planned on for years. Though she did not have her magic outside of Storybrooke, Zelena was still able to travel without magic to England to see an old friend. She had missed Lily Evans for a time now and could not wait to see her. Well, Zelena was more excited to see someone else, but nevertheless still wished to see her friend. Lily Evans had helped her in a time when Zelena had desperately needed aid. If Lily had not helped her, things would have been different.

Zelena faltered at the ruined house, the house where her friend had once lived.

“Wha-What?”

Though she currently had no magic, she could feel dark magic lingering in the yard and covering the house. Zelena did not want to believe that something terrible had happened, but the evidence was in front of her. However, Zelena did not allow herself to despair. All she needed to do was to go to Diagon Alley and go to the library. There she could learn if Lily . . . if . . .

But as Zelena turned to get back on the bus to head to London, she felt her body being pulled and yanked towards a direction only it knew.

_No . . ._

She was not ignorant.

_No . . ._

She was being summoned, taken away from the realm that she had always wished to be in.

_I can’t . . ._

Whether or not she wanted to, she wouldn’t be allowed to stay.

_I won’t!_

Zelena fell to the ground, clawing the ground in an attempt to remain, but it was not to be.

_Not without Hadrian!_

She was whisked away, leaving only claw marks in the grounds and an echo of a cry behind.


	2. Chapter 2

When Zelena appeared, there was no twister or anything that signaled her arrival. She simply appeared from thin air on her hands and knees with her mouth opened in a silent scream. Henry quickly jotted down a sentence in which Zelena did not have magic and would not be able to hurt them. It made him uncomfortable that he could have such power over someone with a mere quill, but it was not as if they had any other choice. They wanted to escape the Underworld and help everyone else to move on. In order to do so, they needed an advantage over Hades. They needed something that could get him to do what they wanted. While the quill could not force Hades to do something due to his status as a god, the quill could be used to get someone who knew that weakness.

“You.”

Regina moved to stand in front of her son, shielding Henry from her sister’s glare. “Hello, Zelena.”

Zelena’s lips twisted into a sneer. “Send me back, you hag.”

“Sorry, but we can’t do that,” David replied, keeping his eyes on the witch.

Snow backed up her husband. “We need to ask you some questions about Hades.”

Zelena leaned back on her heels as she barked a laughed. “I don’t care about what you want. I care about what I want and what I want is to go back where I was before you lot dragged me down here.”

“So you know where we are,” Emma noted thoughtfully.

“Dear,” Zelena said with a haughty tone. “Anyone with half a brain would recognize the Underworld. Now if you’re quite done, send me back!”

“We’ll send you back once we get some answers,” Regina shot back at her, stepping closer before kneeling in front of Zelena. “What is Hades hiding?”

Zelena laughed again. “Oh, sister dear, just because you somehow know that Hades and I know one another doesn’t mean that I know what he’s hiding from you.”

Henry sighed. He had been concerned about Zelena. They didn’t have this kind of time to kill. Every moment they wasted with Zelena beating around the bush, Hades could be planning ways to keep his entire family in the Underworld. Henry didn’t want that to happen so maybe he should use the quill to force Zelena to talk. Could he even do that, he wondered. The Apprentice hadn’t actually told Henry the limitations of the quill so he wasn’t sure. Heck, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to use the quill to force her to talk. It was too much like mind control that his adopted mother, Regina, used with her victims’ hearts when she was the evil queen. 

Henry bit his lip. Maybe he could get her to talk without using the quill.

“Send you back where?”

Every adult’s eyes locked onto Henry’s form with confusion clear on their faces.

“What?” Zelena asked, her voice somewhat softer than before. 

Emma grabbed Henry’s shoulder, her mouth close to his ear. “Henry, what are you doing?”

Henry didn’t look away from Zelena. “Getting answers.”

He took a step away from Emma and towards his adopted aunt. There was enough space between them so that Zelena would have to crawl towards him if she wished to attack him. Just because he was trying to be nice didn’t mean he was going to be stupid. He needed to keep proper distance from Zelena just in case and to give his family time to stop her if she tried anything. He crossed his legs as he sat down on the ground, resting his head on his right hand with his right elbow supported by his leg.

“You didn’t tell us to send you back to Oz. You just said to send you back,” Henry explained calmly.

Zelena snorted. “You clearly have more brains than your mother, but you’re delusional if you think being nice will get you any answers from me.”

Imaginary lightbulbs lit up over everyone’s heads. So Zelena did know something that could help them in their quest against Hades. However, it was a hollow victory because they had already suspected that. It was not a complete loss, however, because now they were more determined to get a straight answer out of Zelena instead of letting her go.

Henry was quiet for a moment before deciding on a way to get Zelena to tell him anything that could help.

“You know,” he started. “This kind of reminds me of when I found out that I was adopted and the truth of Storybrook.”

Snow frowned and turned to Emma, mouthing her words. “What is he doing?”

“I don’t know,” Emma mouthed back.

“Oh, please,” Zelena spat as she rolled her eyes. “Spare me the sob story—”

“I was confused and shocked, of course, but then when my grandma gave me the storybook, I found out that my adopted mother was apparently this evil queen and my birth mother was meant to save anyone in the town,” Henry interrupted, determined to continue his story. “Did you know that I even stole a credit card from my grandma who was also my teacher? Yeah, I used it to find my birth mother in Boston.”

Regina twitched. She never did like remembering how the relationship between her and her son had been strained to the point they rarely spoke. Though, it now make her chuckle to think of how she and Emma had always been at odds.

“What a nice story,” Zelena sneered. “What’s it got to do with me?” 

Henry’s eyes sharpened with sympathy. “I remember being desperate to get some answers not only from Regina about why she really adopted me, but also from Emma. I wanted to know why she gave me up and who my father was. I just wanted to understand everything.”

Henry exhaled before continuing. “What I’m saying is that I understand wanting to get to something and I just want to know what you’re trying to get to. If it’s anything like I experienced, then I’ll send you back. Promise.”

“Henry,” Regina said sharply. “I don’t think—”

“But I have one condition,” he interrupted, keeping his eyes on Zelena. “I want you to tell us how you know Hades and what could be his weakness.”

“Then you’ll send me back?” Zelena asked quietly, her blue eyes searching for honesty in Henry’s eyes. 

Henry nodded. “Yes.”

Zelena heaved a sigh. “Then I guess I’m left with little choice.”

“Excellent,” Regina purred before starting the questioning. “How do you and Hades know each other?”

“Like how all other people meet. We bumped into each other one day.”

Snow jumped in. “How long ago?”

Zelena shrugged as she examined her fingernails. “Almost fourteen years ago, I believe.”

“And exactly how long did it take you before you jumped into his bed?” Hook asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“And there went my appetite,” Robin muttered.

Zelena rolled her eyes. “We were lovers, yes, but only a short while. We grew bored of one another quickly and it wasn’t fun anymore.”

“What? Did you two have a fight or something?” David asked, sure that there was more to the story.

Zelena shrugged and didn’t answer his question. “And no, I do not know his weakness. Though, I do recall that he has a liking for pomegranates. Perhaps if you attached one of those to a stick, you could lead him to his death or some nonsense. I would like to be sent back now, if you please. I have some things to do.”

“I don’t buy it,” Robin said as he shook his head. “You two just decided to stop seeing each other?”

“I think you’re onto something, Robin,” Regina said as she narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Zelena, you’re hiding something.”

“What more do you wanted from me?” Zelena shrieked. “I answered your questions. It’s not my fault if I don’t know Hades’ weakness!”

Emma stepped forward suddenly, utterly suspicious of Zelena. “I know when someone’s lying, Zelena, and you’re lying big time. You know his weakness.”

“No, I don’t!” she snarled, her shoulders struggling against the invisible bonds that Henry had written so that she could not move with the intention to escape.

“Why are you helping Hades?” Hook questioned her. “If you were merely lovers without any emotional entanglements, you wouldn’t be keeping his secrets.”

Regina breathed. “Unless . . . it’s not just his secret that you’re keeping, is it?”

Zelena didn’t respond and instead focused on freeing herself in vain. “Let me go! I have to go to him!”

“Go to who, Zelena?” Regina asked harshly, knowing that Zelena was far too panicked to worry about what she was going to reveal.

Zelena’s eyes flashed an emerald green. “My son!”

“Your . . . son?” Snow repeated faintly.

Everyone was reacting much like Snow White. They were shocked beyond belief that Zelena was a mother and apparently had offspring. She had never even mentioned having any children or having any lovers—

“O,h my gosh,” Snow breathed. “You don’t think—”

Emma’s eyes lit up with understanding. “That’s why you wouldn’t tell us Hades’ weakness—”

“Because his weakness is your weakness,” Regina finished, all of her attention on the woman in front of her.

Zelena’s face was etched with the protectiveness that belonged to a mother. “If you even touch him, I swear I’ll—”

“And once again I have found myself at a party that I wasn’t invited to.”


	3. Chapter 3

Hades stood in front of the door in the Underworld’s version of Snow White’s apartment. He lurked in a small circle of space as he allowed Snow White and her friends time to gather themselves. He did not want the mortals to be speechless when he finally made his final move in this game of chess. His lips were pursed as he moved forward like a predator that stalked its prey, at last ready for his goal to be accomplished. Hades’ eyes latched onto Zelena’s form as he ceased to move forward. 

“Zelena, what a surprise. What brings you to the Underworld?” Hades asked as he subtly watched the other mortals’ brains catch up with what they saw.

Regina blocked her sister from Hades’ gaze. “This is none of your concern.”

“Don’t you have more people to torture?” Hook sneered.

“Killian, don’t—” Emma started to warn.

“Don’t what, Emma?” Hades laughed. “Antagonize me? Far too late, I’m afraid. If you had wished to let sleep dogs lie, as the saying goes, you shouldn’t have gone digging into things that are none of your concern.”

Robin raised his bow with a sharp arrow ready to fly. “We’re not quite sure what you’re talking about, Hades. Regina just wanted a heart-to-heart with her dear sister.”

Hades arched an eyebrow. “In the Underworld? During a time in which you are desperate to leave this place and have the dead move on? I think you have far more pressing issues to deal with at the moment for instance . . . my weakness.”

“So you admit you have one,” Snow White noted.

“Oh, my dear, we all have weaknesses. You just happen to be barking up the wrong tree in this instance. Though Zelena and I were once lovers, we do not share a child. If she has a child, then I am not the father.”

David stiffened with his family and friends. He had not been sure that Hades had heard what Emma and Regina had said, but he had hoped that Hades hadn’t. They could not afford having Hades knowing what they were planning to do and what weapon they may use against him. They needed to remain at least a step ahead of him, but now they were not. Hades knew and that meant that Hades could block this certain path towards victory. 

Hades noticed the stiffening of shoulders. “Oh, you thought I hadn’t heard.” He laughed. “Well, you know what they say about small towns: there are no secrets. Did you really think that I wouldn’t get wind of your plan to uncover my weakness? You really must have left your brains in the land of the living.”

Zelena huffed. “Hades, do you mind? My knees are killing me.”

“Of course. I apologize for making you wait,” Hades replied with a snap of his fingers, the invisible bonds on Zelena’s person now nonexistent.

Zelena leapt to her feet and fixed her hair before gesturing to her person. “Thank you. Now do you mind?”

Hades smiled. “Your wish is my command.”

With another snap of his fingers, Zelena disappeared in a whirl of blue fire and left no trace that she had ever been in the apartment. 

Regina could barely contain her anger. “Where did you send my sister?”

“Where she wanted to be,” Hades answered, his words shedding no light. “Now, if you excuse me, I have other things to do.”

Hades snapped his fingers again, this time taking himself out of the apartment. No words were exchanged as the mortals processed what had just happened and what it meant to their current plan.

“So who believes what Hades said?” Henry asked, breaking the silence.

“Care to be specific?” Hook questioned the boy as he leaned against the kitchen table.

“That he and Zelena didn’t have a kid.”

Snow shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s plausible. Zelena could have had a child with anyone. The father doesn’t have to be Hades.”

“But he is the only lover that we’re aware of Zelena having,” Robin pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean that Hades is the father. All it means that he could be the father,” David said.

Emma jumped in. “We could use the quill again.”

Regina nodded. “It is possible. All Henry would have to write is a sentence that would bring Zelena and Hades’ son to the Underworld. If there is no shared son, then we know that they have no child together and we then try to summon a child that is Hades’ alone. If that doesn’t work either, then we know for sure that means Hades doesn’t have a child.”

“But Hades undid the quill’s power on Zelena,” Henry said. “And the Apprentice told me that the quill doesn’t work on gods. What if it doesn’t work on demigods?”

“It works on humans, though. So maybe since the child is only half god, the quill could work enough to summon them here?” Snow suggested.

Hook was not convinced. “And who says that the summoning won’t make things worse?”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked, his brown eyes clear with curiosity.

“Think about it: the kid will be half god and half mortal. Even if the god side doesn’t nullify the power of the quill, who can say if the kid won’t be able to run circles around us? What if this is some kind of trap? What if Hades and his kid have this planned?”

Regina crossed her arms. “Hook, we have an archer, two magic users, the Author, a pirate, Snow White and Prince Charming. I think we can handle a child.”

“Hook’s got a point. We need some kind of backup if the kid catches us off guard,” David said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Oh, well, if that’s what you want, I think I saw a god-proof cage in the attic,” Regina sarcastically replied before becoming serious. “What do you suppose we do? It’s not like I know how to—”

Everyone waited a moment for Regina to continue speaking, but she never did in favor for staring off into space.

“Hmm, Regina?” Emma said, trying to get the woman’s attention.

Regina snapped her fingers, a leather-bound book popping into her waiting hands. “I think I have an idea.”

“What kind of idea?” Robin questioned his lover, fiddling with his bow nervously.

Snow White ignored Robin’s concern. “What do you need, Regina?”

A smile bloomed on Regina’s face. “Pomegranate seeds.”

*******Line Break*******

The moment Zelena left the apartment, she appeared in Hades’ throne room with the separate rivers. Hades had not been lying that she was where she wanted to be. Hades had known that her dear sister was going to summon her to the Underworld and had made plans accordingly. He wouldn’t have allow Regina to summon her if he could not use it to his advantage. The only thing that Zelena did not understand was what Hades would get out of this besides being able to see her again. 

“Zelena.”

She turned. “Hades.”

The atmosphere between the two past lovers was charged with repressed feelings and happiness for the chance and ability to once again meet without being suspicious. Their faces softened, the lines that painted their foreheads easing as they hungrily burn the image of the other into their imagination once more.

Hades sauntered forward to cradle Zelena’s gloved hands in his own. “It has been too long.”

“I’ve missed you,” Zelena whispered back as her heart ached in tune with Hades’ heart.

“And I you,” Hades replied. “There wasn’t a day that I did not think of you and our son.”

Zelena sniffed. “You haunted my thoughts constantly. I had no respite.”

“At least you were with our son,” he murmured.

Zelena’s eyes stung from the lie. “Hades . . . Hadrian hasn’t been with me since he was three months old.”

“What?” Hades said sharply as his back straightened. “Why not? What happened?”

Her laughter was bitter. “Dorothy happened.”

“Tell me everything.”

She shook her head. “Not yet. I want to know what your end game is first.”

“I deserve to know what has become of my son, our son, and if he is . . .” Hades faltered.

“He is not dead, Hades. I swear it. I would know if that had occurred.”

Hades studied Zelena before nodding. “I believe you.”

“Now tell me why you’re allowing my dear sister to summon our son and use him against you,” she demanded, the protective instincts of a mother all-consuming.

A smirk danced wickedly on his lips. “Oh, dear Zelena, do you think so little of me?”

She deflated a little. “No, I just . . . I just haven’t held Hadrian in my arms in years and I can’t stand him being with them.”

Hades caressed her cheek. “Don’t worry, love. I have it under control. Our son will not be harmed.”

“How can you be so sure?” she murmured, wrapping her arms around him as she closed her eyes.

“I have stationed someone outside of the apartment and the moment that those mortals take their eyes off of Hadrian, he’ll bring him to us.”

Zelena opened her eyes and frowned. “Why aren’t you waiting there yourself?”

Hades’ cheeks developed a hint of pink. “I have dedicated myself to preparing his room and belongings.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, Hades!”

*******Line Break*******

“It’s done.”

Emma eyed the complicated, red markings of an ancient language. “I still can’t believe you used pomegranate seeds as ink.”

“They have a power all on their own. They can actually force gods and goddesses remain in the Underworld,” Regina explained as she washed her hands in the kitchen sink.

“Where did you learn that?” Robin asked.

“From my mother, actually. It’s a long story,” Regina answered.

“Sounds like it’ll be a pleasant trip down memory lane,” Hook said with an arched eyebrow.

David cleared his throat. “So, Henry, are you sure that you want to use the quill again so soon?”

“Yes.”

Regina eyed her son. “You know that you don’t have to, right? We can always wait a bit longer if you’re feeling strained.”

Henry nodded. “I know, Mom, but we don’t have forever. We need to get home before Hades writes more names on tombstones.”

A collective flinch spread throughout the group, but Henry ignored it as he sat on the couch with the quill in hand. He wasn’t the type to be tactful with his words when the truth could not be avoided. It was the only way he could get his point across without more time wasted trying to convince everyone that he was alright. With the quill poised over the blank page, Henry closed his eyes briefly before writing one simple sentence.

_Hades’ and Zelena’s son appeared with the magic circle that Regina had completed minutes before._

Energy that wasn’t his own swept from the pen and into his hand, catching a ride within his veins. The energy, after visiting most of his body, returned to the quill with a small faction settling into his eyes and projecting a scene that no one else could see.

_Darkness . . ._

_Pain . . ._

_Loneliness . . ._

_Despair . . ._

_It was all too familiar, but he had managed to mold his life into a slightly better one. So why had he regressed back to this point? He wasn’t in the cupboard so it couldn’t the Dursleys that decided to revert back to a previous state. No . . . He was somewhere that he had never been before. But where? Why couldn’t he remember what had happened?_

_Hissing . . ._

_Feathers . . ._

_Blood . . ._

_A tooth . . ._

_Ah, he had faced the basilisk and a younger Voldemort whose name was Tom Riddle. He had stabbed the diary and Ginny was spared. The day had been saved and he . . ._

_Agony . . ._

_So much agony . . ._

_Cries . . ._

_Wet . . ._

_Blood . . ._

_Darkness._

_He had died_.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone was on high alert as they anxiously watched the magical circle on the living room floor. Regina and Emma stood guard on opposite sides of the circle with both of their hands glowing slightly with their magic. Robin Hood was by Regina’s side, his bow handy but without an arrow ready to fly. If the child was truly half god, it would be more logical to simply knock the child out with his bow rather than trying to mortally wound the child. Snow White and David protected Emma’s sides and while having no weapons of their own, they were dedicated to keeping the child from harming any of their companions. Hook was given the duty of escaping with and protecting Henry should the need arise, but that did not mean part of his attention wasn’t also on the red circle.

And right now, Hook was a bit confused.

“What’s taking so long?”

Regina’s lips pursed and tightened. “Oh, hush, pirate. It has only been a minute.”

Hook scoffed. “Aye, a minute _too long_.”

“I don’t want to be the one to say it,” Emma spoke up without taking her eyes off the circle. “But maybe Hades isn’t the father.”

David nodded. “I second that thought. This isn’t the end, though. We can try surrounding just his child. Maybe he had another lover.”

Regina’s face softened as she loosened her shoulders. “Okay, we try again. We just don’t mention Zelena and—”

Henry’s shuttered inhale interrupted her. “Mom!”

Emma and Regina jerked from their stations and hurried to Henry’s side on the couch. Snow and David followed on their heels and Robin shadowed them. Hook, being the closest to the boy, was the first to Henry’s side and sat down next to him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Hook asked his girlfriend’s son, clasping Henry’s shoulder in his only hand.

Henry inhaled slowly before opening his eyes. “It was dark, so dark and he hurt so much . . .”

“Who, Henry?” Emma questioned, reaching from her place on the coffee table and grabbing one of his hands.

“Harry,” he replied, his gaze seeing not his family, but the memory he had just witnessed.

Snow frowned. “Harry?”

“Who’s Harry?” David asked his grandson.

“Their son,” Henry answered before rubbing his eyes. “I think, anyway. It was memory like the one I saw with Hades when I tried to write his story except . . . it was different.”

Robin stepped forward. “Different how?”

“When I saw Hades’ past, it was like I was there, but just watching, you know? But with this memory . . . it was dark and it was more like I was recalling Harry’s thoughts. Wherever he was it was dark and he was in so much pain,” Henry responded, his eyes flying open after a brief pause and locking onto Regina. “We can’t use him, Mom! He needs help!”

“Henry,” Regina said gently, patting him on the back. “We were never going to hurt him. We just need a bargaining chip. Nothing more, nothing less. If he really needs our help, we’ll help him.”

“Regina’s right, kiddo,” Emma agreed. “So don’t freak out, okay?”

“I know, I know. I’m just . . . It was just too real,” Henry finished quietly, his body slightly curled into himself.

“Hate to break this up, but I think the kid’s just arrived,” Robin said, his bow still gripped in his right hand as he gestured to the circle with his head.

There was a moment of disbelief before everyone, including Henry, leapt to their feet and crowded around the circle.

“Why did it take so long?” Emma asked with the glow in her hands absent.

“He’s half god,” Regina stated. “I assuming it’s enough god blood to struggle against the summoning of the quill, but not to be immune like Hades.”

“That’s all and good, but is anyone seeing what I’m seeing?” Snow interjected, kneeling down close to the boy.

The boy’s clothes were torn and stained from only could be assumed to be his blood. His ink black hair was shaggy enough to partially cover his closed eyes and he was curled in the fetal position. Snow could see shallow cuts on the boy’s cheeks, but his apparent injuries were not what she was referring to.

David’s eyes widened, realization blossoming in the depths of his eyes. “He can’t be more than five!”

“He’s so small,” Robin murmured, descending down to his knees as well as he gently touched the boy’s hair.

Henry gave Regina a helpless look. “Aren’t you going to help him?”

“Of course, Henry,” Regina replied as she got on her knees and began to heal the boy. “What did you say his name was again?”

“Harry.”

Hook swallowed before speaking. “Did Zelena do this to him?”

Regina snorted. “My sister has done a lot of things, but she wouldn’t harm her own child.”

“What about Hades?” Hook sneered at the thought.

“He didn’t even know about the child,” Snow countered.

Hook shrugged. “Could have been a lie.”

“How about we drop this subject and actually focus on the boy who needs our help?” Robin suggested and then turned to his girlfriend. “Regina, can we move him to a bed or something?”

She didn’t hesitate in her answer. “Yes. I’ve finished healing what I can. All he needs now is some rest and a good meal. Maybe when he wakes up, he can give us some answers and we can figure out what to do from there.”

Robin moved to grab grabbed the boy named Harry, but David beat him to it.

“I’ve got him,” David said with a smile before gently lifting Harry into his arms.

“Now wait a moment,” Hook said, his hand on David’s arm. “Are we sure it’s smart to let the boy out of the circle?”

The looks that Hook received had him backpedaling and going onward to explain what he meant.

“The boy’s a demigod, a young and hurt demigod granted, but a demigod nevertheless. What if the boy freaks out when he wakes up? We don’t know what’s been done to him and where he’ll think he is.”

Emma chewed her lip. “Maybe we can move the sofa into the circle? The circle’s big enough for it.”

“Two birds with one stone,” Regina mused before nodding. “I suppose that would be enough for Harry to be comfortable, but also not able to harm us.”

“Mom,” Henry scolded, frowning.

Regina ruffled his hair. “Just a precaution, Henry. I don’t think that Harry will harm us, but we need to be sure we’ll be okay. Just in case, alright?”

“Alright.”

Snow clapped her hands once. “Okay then. Let’s move that sofa!”

*******Line Break*******

 “Ugh, why couldn’t they have some kind of loyal steed? It would make things so much easier,” Cruella De Vil muttered to herself as she handed the binoculars to her partner.

“But then it wouldn’t be any fun,” James smirked as he watched his twin brother poke his head out from behind the curtains before ducking back.

“Ah, yes, _fun_. How much fun can it be without a little bloodshed?” Her voice was smoky with sarcasm.

James rolled his eyes. “You think anything worthwhile must have blood involved.”

“Well, darling, you have to skin some animals if you want to make a fur coat,” Cruella replied, flipping her hair.

“Does everything go back to animals with you?” James asked with a grin.

Cruella smirked. “Not sex.”

James laughed quietly. “I sure know how to pick them.”

“How much longer do you think we have to wait for them to go to sleep? The Underworld doesn’t exactly have a sun and moon,” she said, seriousness once again seeping in her words and eyes.

“My _dear brother_ had a cup in his hands so I’d say not very long.” The smirk on his face spoke of something that intrigued Cruella.

“What is it that I don’t know?”

“You’ll see,” he teased before his eyes landed on Rumple across the street. “What do you suppose Rumpelstiltskin is up to?”

Cruella’s dark eyes narrowed. “He appears to be going to the diner.”

“Think Hades has any idea?”

“I sincerely doubt it.”

James thought for a moment before shrugging. “I’ll make sure to mention it to him when we deliver the kid.”

“Speaking of this boy, James,” Cruella said as she pulled her fur coat on. “Why is he so important to Hades? Why does he trust us to bring the boy to him? Sure, he’s promised me life, but what about you, darling? What exactly did he promise you that’s gotten you eagerly following his orders?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Why the sudden interest, Cruella?”

She held her hands in surrender. “Just curious.”

“Haven’t you heard that curiosity killed the cat?”

Cruella smiled, wickedness glinting in her eyes. “Good thing I’m more of a dog person.”

James chuckled. “Yes, of course. How could I forget?”

“I couldn’t tell you, darling, but enough avoidance. Are you ever going to answer me?”

The cheery air dissipated as James’ lips tightened. “I wasn’t promised anything.”

“Really?” Cruella was surprised. Normally, to get James to do something for someone else, you had to promise him something in return. So what was different this time?

“Yes.”

“So what did he tell you?” she asked.

James’ back straightened unconsciously. “What makes you think he told me anything?”

“Oh, darling,” Cruella laughed. “If Hades didn’t promise you anything, then he must told you something _absolutely divine_.”

“ . . . He did,” he admitted to his lover.

She clapped, her giddy clear in her face and voice. “Oh, please, do tell.”

“He told me about my father,” he said softly, an uncharacteristic softness in his face that James seem more like his twin.

“Oh,” she muttered, clearly disappointed the lack of excitement in that tidbit. “Why was that so important to you? You’ve never struck me as the sentimental type.”

James cleared his throat. “I never knew who was birth father was and besides,” he said with the softness morphing a smirk. “My _dear brother_ has no idea either.”

The pieces clicked in Cruella’s mind. “How devious, darling!”

“Yes . . . devious.”

The conservation slowed to a crawl and thirty minutes passed without spoken words before a low beep broke the silence.

“Let’s go. They should be asleep by now.”

James and Cruella crossed the street and crept up the flight of stairs, careful to not make any noise. Though Hades’ alarm spell had told James that his twin brother and his friends had drank the tea, he was still being cautious and aware of the possibility that Emma and Regina could be resistant to the sleeping potion’s magic. If he or Cruella heard so much as a peep from within the apartment, they would retreat for thirty minutes or so to make sure the potion had everyone under its influence.

When they reached the apartment door, James held a finger in front of his lips and waited for any sign that someone was awake. Cruella knew to remain silent without James telling her to do so, but allowed it, instead focusing her attention on the occupants in the apartment. The only sound that passed through the wooden door was soft snores and nothing else. James and Cruella shared a winning smirk. The potion had worked, but Hades had warned them that it would work for only a handful of minutes. The job had to be done quickly if they wanted to be able to leave with their target.

James turned the door handle and was not surprised to find the door unlocked.

“Cocky heroes,” he muttered below a whisper, slowly pushing the door open.

Cruella was suffering from disbelief as well. Were they so secure in their faith of their abilities that they kept the door unlocked? This was the Underworld for goodness sake, not some quaint town! You would think that they would be more on edge that they actually were.

They walked into the apartment, their feet moving without sound to reveal their presence. They bypassed the sleeping heroes on various couches, chairs and beds, and come to a small bed within a red circle. A small head rested on a pillow and the face was not one that either person recognized.

“That must be him,” Cruella breathed in James’ ear. “I’ll get him.”

She continued to step forward until she found that she could go any further. She sneered and turned to James who was already passing her. It must have been so kind of magic circle to keep anyone from getting the boy, Cruella thought to herself. It was the only smart thing that the band of heroes had actually done since coming to the Underworld.

James, on the other hand, was without magic and therefore could get to the boy. He would have no trouble picking the boy up and carrying him out of the circle. Then all they would have to do was leave the apartment and give the boy to Hades. It was almost easy.

That is, until James touched Harry.

Then everything fell apart.


	5. Chapter 5

It was dark . . .

So _very_ dark . . .

What little consciousness Harry had was drowning in the ocean of pain that his body was being consumed by. Needles, _were they actually needles_ , were laughing inside of his skin, mocking the torment that tugged him downwards under the waves. The only color that he could recognize anymore was black, _for nothing, for darkness_ , _and for loss_. The other colors, blue, green, brown, yellow, purple, pink, gray, and red, were lost to Harry in this world of darkness and pain. Even if he saw them again, would he be able to recognize their shades with his eyes?

Chilling laughter ricocheted inside of Harry’s ears, driving the sound deeper into his mind. He shuddered, a sudden wave of goosebumps leaving a chill upon his skin in their wake. He just wanted to go home, to go to Hogwarts. He had a vague idea of his whereabouts, but even if he escaped the room, it would be useless. He wouldn’t get five feet from the room before he became lost in the labyrinth of halls and rooms.

“His blood is useless . . .”

“He just keeps coming back . . .”

“That tattoo . . .”

“People are searching for the boy . . .”

If Harry could endure the pain talking would bring forth, he beg for the end, _any end_ , to the suffering these people had inflicted upon him. For the life of him, Harry could not recall how many days or hours had passed by during his time in the room. Was it days? Weeks? Dare he think . . . months? His sense of time was greatly hindered by the fact he could not see the sunrise and set and that he had no access to a clock.

But maybe . . . maybe this time . . .

Harry’s eyes lids fluttered and became still as his eyes peered from their sockets.

Darkness.

Despair overcame his consciousness, taking him under the waves and dragging him from awareness.

*******Break Line*******

A hand on his shoulder, one that did not bring pain, brought Harry forth from his dreams and into the land of consciousness. He didn’t make a sound, however, having learned that it was important to become aware of his surroundings before speaking. His capturers had taken to asking him a series of questions if they thought he was awake, questions that would end in pain if they were not satisfied with his responses.

The first thing he noticed was that he was laying in soft sheets on a comfortable mattress and his magic hummed with pleasant surprise that he was no longer in pain. In fact, he noted with shock, Harry had no more injuries. His shirt was no longer wet with his blood which meant someone had given him a new shirt at least. But why? And how had he gotten out of that room?

The hand on his shoulder moved to his other shoulder, the hand’s arm now supporting his neck, and another arm slipped under his legs to support them as well. Acting on instinct, Harry’s emerald eyes opened and alerted to the person that he was awake.

“Don’t worry, kid. We’re getting you out of here,” the person murmured, his voice sounding much like a man’s.

Harry frowned, unsure what was going on. “And taking me where?”

“To your father. He’s waiting for you.”

Understanding dawned on Harry, spurring a pulse of anger to swell within him. So his capturers had gotten tired of getting answers out of him the old fashion way, huh? Did they think he would spill his guts if he honestly thought he had been rescued and was talking with his father? The anger continued to build as the man lifted Harry off the bed until his magic absorbed the growing emotion and transformed it into a blast at the man. In result of a reflex, the man let go of Harry and the boy landed on the soft cushion of the mattress. A resounding crack echoed in the apartment, stirring the sleeping occupants of the room.

“James!” A woman cried, the clacking of heels against wooden floors following the other sound into silence.

“That kid packs quite a punch. Ouch.”

“Let’s get out of here. They’re already waking up.”

“But Hades—”

“We’ll tell him what happened and figure something else out, darling. _Now let’s go_!”

A door creaked and slammed, but the sound was muffled by the words of the other occupants of the apartment. This spurred Harry into action, easing his feet to the wooden floor with half a mind on being careful while the other half was focused on his surroundings.

“Regina, we can’t let them go!”

Harry, standing on the opposite side of the bed that the man had come from, moved forward until he found that he could no longer do so. It was some kind of magical barrier, he reasoned as he held his hands in front of him and trying to feel for a weakness. His magic sprung forth to his fingertips and did as its owner wished, searching for a weakness in a frantic manner that mirrored Harry’s.

“The spell on the circle stopped them, Emma, or well, it stopped Cruella. They’ll be back for what they came for sooner or later,” a woman answered.

A familiar feeling of despair swam inside of Harry. While he was healed and no longer in pain, he was still imprisoned. If it was true that he had actually been taken instead of this being another tactic to get answers, whoever had taken him was not a friend. Why else would he be trapped again?

Harry bit his tongue, the dull pain grounding him in this instance. He just wanted to go home. Was that too much to ask for?

“Besides,” another woman said. “Our guest is awake.”

Harry turned away in the direction of the voice, a small flicker of hope burning for only a few seconds.

Maybe he could escape.

All he required was something sharp, but before he would have a chance of getting something like that, he needed the people around him to be at ease if they weren’t already. He would have to play it by ear to see if he had a chance to get what he needed and escaped. There was nothing else he could do but wait.

*******Break Line*******

The spell that blocked from magical people from getting within the circle, a precaution against other magical beings in the Underworld, had stopped Cruella from getting anywhere near the boy. However, it seemed that James had tried to get Harry from the bed. Unsure if the attempted kidnapping had hurt the boy, Regina eyed Harry in search for any sign that he had been injured and saw no signs of an injury. However, she wanted to make sure he was alright and decided to ask him.

“Did they hurt you?”

Harry’s eyes locked somewhere over her shoulder and shook his head. “No.”

A collective sigh was breathed. Regina saw Snow move forward towards Harry until she was a few feet away from the circle. She had an inkling as to what Snow was planning seeing as David and Henry were heading towards the kitchen. She wasn’t sure how the boy would respond, though. He had been injured before the summoning which meant someone had inflicted a great deal of pain on Harry. She was certain this meant that Harry would be wary of them and their intentions. Especially considering that they had him trapped within the circle.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” Snow asked Harry, leaning slightly forward with her hands on her knees. Her smile was kind, but not so wide that her smile could be taken in the wrong way.

Harry’s eyes moved until they seemingly rested on Snow’s face. “. . . Yes.”

He had an accent, Regina noticed. A British accent. It wasn’t that noteworthy, but nevertheless a discovery.

“Okay,” Snow nodded before she straightened. “How does a sandwich and tea sound?”

“Nice,” the boy replied, his voice weak and soft.

No one spoke as Henry handed the tray to Snow who then in turn tried to give it to Harry, the key word being _tried_. Snow had actually gotten bent down slightly to have the tray right in front of Harry, but Harry’s hands reached higher as if searching for the tray. Snow felt her heart break as the pieces fell into place.

“Here,” Snow said, her voice as gentle as it usually was as she took one of Harry’s hands and placed it on the edge of the tray. “It’s right here, okay?”

No one said anything when they realized what had transpired and its meaning. Instead they waited in silence as they watched unnamed emotions flit across Harry’s face before he sat down on the bed to eat. They gathered in the kitchen, the farthest place from Harry, and conversed in hushed tones with Snow.

“He’s actually blind?” Robin asked Snow, unable to fathom the idea of being unable to see.

Snow nodded, her eyes sad. “I think so. I didn’t want to ask, though. That’s rude.”

“Can you heal him, Mom?” Henry asked Regina.

Regina’s face softened. “I can’t, Henry. I’m sorry.”

Henry bit his lip. “Could Emma?”

“No,” Regina answered, regret tainting her words. “Magic can’t heal everything.”

“So what do we do now? Use Hades’ blind son against him?” Hook asked before letting sarcasm bleed into the situation. “Yeah, that sounds _real_ heroic.”

“That was the plan,” Emma admitted, though now she didn’t know what they would do. “But we were expecting a demigod, someone older . . . not a blind, tortured kid.”

“We don’t even know who hurt him,” David said, rubbing his eyes. “It could have been Hades for all we know.”

Robin shook his head. “I don’t think so. Did you hear what Cruella said about Hades? To me, it sounds more like Hades _wanted_ us to summon the boy.”

Hook sneered. “Brilliant. Now we’re just puppets on strings.”

“But why would he need us to summon Harry?” Snow questioned her companions. “Why not just get Harry himself?”

“Unless he couldn’t,” Emma said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Regina agreed. “Exactly. The only reason he would let us anywhere near his son would be if Hades himself couldn’t get his son.”

“Maybe Hades and Zelena’s break up wasn’t clean and simple like she said,” Henry suggested. “Maybe she wouldn’t let him see Harry.”

David shook his head. “No, they were too nice to each other for that.”

“Then what?” Hook said. “No matter how we look at it, it doesn’t make sense unless—”

“Unless we don’t have all the pieces,” Emma finished. “But the bottom line is that Hades had sent people to get his son. We need to be prepared for when that happens again.”

“Then maybe whoever shows up can give us some answers,” Regina said.

Robin touched his bow. “What if it’s Hades who shows up?”

“Hades’ been in a giving mood lately,” Snow said with a shrug. “If he shows up, maybe he’ll reward us with some answers.”

“Speaking of being in a mood,” Hook drawled. “Where’s Rumpelstiltskin?”

*******Break Line*******

Rumpelstiltskin was not in a good mood after he left the diner for a meal. What had originally been planned as a one day trip had morphed into a trail of days searching for Captain Hook. Then when they had finally found him, three people of the group had their names written on tombstones and became stuck in the Underworld. As if that had not been enough, Rumpelstiltskin had learned that Belle was pregnant upon being told that the contract he had made centuries ago was in the hand of Hades. Those two discoveries had led Rumpelstiltskin becoming Hades’ lapdog until Hades would decide to give Rumpelstiltskin the contract.

“After this, I’m convincing Belle to go back to the Enchanted Forest with me,” he muttered to himself as he sauntered down the sidewalk back to the library. He was in no hurry to get back to Hades. “At least Emma and her band of heroes wouldn’t be there to drag us into everything.”

As it always does, opportunity literally sprung forth in front of Rumpelstiltskin and presented itself as if wrapped up in paper and string. This time, opportunity came in the form of Cruella and David’s twin brother, James as they emerged from the alleyway to his left. Instinct swept into motion and Rumple waved his hand to give the illusion that he wasn’t currently there watching the two people. Usually, Cruella and James were amidst their bizarre love affair in which both took from each other even though each person desired another person entirely.

“Your blood has ruined my fur coat,” Cruella complained.

“What a tragedy,” James said, his voice dripping with sarcasm before becoming serious. “It was only a tiny bit from my cut. Quit whining about it.”

“Darling,” Cruella’s voice was sharp. “I don’t think you understand how hard it is to come by fur coats in the Underworld.”

Rumple ignored the two as they bickered, but continued to follow them. Stalking them proved to be _very_ enlightening as the two lovers moved onto more interesting topics.

“Hades won’t be happy about this,” Cruella said, her voice quiet.

James shrugged. “He’ll deal with it.”

Cruella barked a laugh. “I seriously doubt that, James. We were given a task and did not complete said task. I wouldn’t be surprised if he somehow managed to kill us.”

“You think we can die twice?” James rolled his eyes.

“You know what I meant,” she snarled. “I don’t even know why he wanted the boy or why he didn’t go fetch the boy himself.”

“He has more important things to do than to save a boy from my brother and his band of heroes, Cruella.”

Rumple’s attention zeroed on the mentioned boy and his mind spun the information around, turning it into an advantage. With a grin pulling at his lips, Rumple ceased to follow Cruella and James and instead turned on his heel to go to the Underworld’s version of Snow’s apartment. It had seemed that he needed to catch up with his fellow companions and see the boy that Hades _so clearly wanted_.

After all, it would be rude of him to not welcome the boy personally, wouldn’t it?

*******Break Line*******

Norell, a beautiful woman with dark skin, sat in the chair that represented the direction north and her part of the kingdom. Her face was troubled, reflecting the unease and concern that was in her sisters.

“So she has finally gone to retrieve her child,” Norell murmured, her hand supporting her face.

Akemi, a woman of Asian descent, nodded. “It would appear so.”

“Wait, Zelena has a child?” Dorothy questioned her fellow witches, leaning forward in her seat of the west.

Glinda sighed and reached over to pat one of Dorothy’s hands. “It was before your time.”

“Why was I never told?”

“Because we were always in the midst of something else,” Norell answered. “Disputes among the people, the riots against magic and witches, Zelena’s plots to be an end to our sisterhood . . . There was never any time, Dorothy, to sit you down and tell you about her child and the child’s whereabouts.”

Dorothy frowned. “Whereabouts? What do you mean? Wouldn’t the child be in Oz?”

Akemi shook her head. “No. Zelena anticipated that we would wish to nip the problem in the bud as it were.”

“Nip the problem in the bud?” Dorothy echoed, almost certain of what the Witch of the East meant, but hoped with every drop of her blood that she was wrong. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We were not planning on killing the child, Dorothy,” Glinda answered before Akemi had the chance. “We simply wished to take the child from her before she would have the chance to harm the child.”

Norell gave the Witch of the South a look before turning her attention to Dorothy. “That is, until we learned of the child’s father and heritage.”

Akemi followed suit. “Dorothy, the child is a demigod. Not only would that give the child a chance to be a powerful person in their own right, but the power of an unbound demigod coupled with the magic the child would most likely inherit from Zelena . . . The child was seen more as a threat than a simple child.”

“But a child? You were really prepared to murder a babe just because of its power?” Dorothy questioned them, swallowing back her tears as she could faintly see how the event would unfold.

“No, never murder,” Glinda quickly corrected. “Our first thought was to merely bind the child’s demigod side and magic and give the child to a family in a different land. Then the child would be a simple human and would be raised as such.”

Dorothy frowned. “Why did the child have to be in a different land?”

Akemi opened her mouth to reply, but her attention shifted when Norell stood up, the legs of her chair scratching against the floor. “We don’t have time for this, Dorothy. We must follow Zelena and stop her from sinking her teeth into the child. Should Zelena bring the child back to Oz with her, I see only chaos and destruction as the sole future for our kingdoms.”

Though she wanted answers, Dorothy straightened her back and pushed her thirst for knowledge aside to protect her kingdom. “How do you propose we do that?”

A brief smile flickered on Norell’s face. “By using Zelena’s vanity against her: her hairbrush.”


	6. Chapter 6

Despite his hunger, Harry nibbled on the sandwich with each bite savored slowly as he eavesdropped on his capturers’ conversation. The taste of ham distracted him with a moment of blossoming flavor, but he centered his attention back onto on the conversation taking place. He thought it was strange that one of his capturers expressed the desire to heal his eyes. Why take away an advantage over him? Due to his blindness, Harry did not know the layout of where he was and would not be able to make a speedy escape. He would be forced to go at a snail’s pace, feeling everything and trying to maneuver through obstacles. He would also become lost should he escape this place. What would he do then? All of these things compiled into a major advantage for his capturers and it was one that they would need due to his magic and resistance to cooperating with them.

That was why he was blinded in the first place.

For _an advantage_.

For imprisonment.

The food in Harry’s mouth now tasted bitter with the reminder of his loss of freedom. Unable to stand the taste in his mouth, Harry put his sandwich down on the plate and sipped at the tea, gripping the tea cup with both hands. He did not want to have to think about how he had been blinded, the pain still fresh in his mind. No, it was more important to appear as though he was meek and pliable. His new capturers, if they were even _new_ and weren’t trying to trick him, would be confident in their power over him if they thought he was a poor, little boy who wouldn’t know how to begin with an escape plan. Then once they were relaxed, he could start planning on getting out of here.

_But where will I go? How will I escape if I can’t see?_

This was where he always ran into a wall during his escape plans. Harry would figure out the routine and a time in which he would be able to escape. However, his disability hindered the rest of his escape. He had no way of seeing magical traps or seeing if he was going around in circles. His last capturers had placed him in a room amongst many other rooms with many hallways. The first and last time he had escaped the room, he had spent an hour walking in those hallways only to find himself somehow getting deeper instead of finding an exit. When his capturers found him, he had struggled and vowed to escape the room again, but the maze coupled with his blindness had drained the desire out of him. What was the point of getting out of the room if he would only find himself deeper into his prison?

Though now Harry was out of that room, he was not certain if his current capturers were in cahoots with his previous capturers. What if this was a trick? Just because he was in a different room and he had heard his new capturers talking about summoning him didn’t mean he wasn’t still in the maze of hallways. Would he really risk angering his supposed new capturers just to find that he had no chance of escaping?

Harry bit his lip. Just because he suspected he was still in the maze didn’t mean that he was. What if he was in a new place, a place without a maze in which he would become lost? What if he was somewhere that he could easily run away from? Then he could have escaped if only he had tried to do so. He needed to know for sure if he was still within the maze of hallways.

With a renewed desire to escape, Harry recalled what he felt when he touched the barrier of the magical circle. He knew that the circle had very strong magic to back it up, but when his magic seeped into it to find an exit, the barrier had wavered in its intensity. Perhaps it had a weakness that Harry could use to cancel out the magic. But what could it be?

Harry frowned. He would find that weakness. It was all of a matter of sending his magic into the magical barrier again. This particular talent was something that he had recently developed and one that he found that was almost too easy to use. His magic now jumped to his fingertips, eager to bend to his will. Honestly, it made Harry uncomfortable. Even with a wand, magic had always been difficult for him to perform. He had to practice a single spell for days on end before he managed to perform the spell with little difficulty. However, now it had reversed in a way that Harry could use his magic with an ease unfamiliar to him. Though it was something that Harry didn’t understand, he couldn’t afford to _not_ use his magic. He needed to use his newfound ability to get him out of here.

He put down the cup and let his magic flow out of his fingertips, caressing the barrier before sinking into it. Harry wasn’t sure if he would be able to escape after getting rid of the barrier, but he had to try.

He couldn’t stand being a prisoner anymore.

* * *

 

“I see you and Cruella did not succeed,” Hades stated with both hands behind his back.

James scowled. “The kid freaked out when I touched him and I was thrown back against a wall.”

“Why did he panic? What did you say?” Hades questioned, stepping closer.

“I told him that I was getting him out of there and taking him to you, to his father,” he answered, his scowl growing bigger as he kicked a rock. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Hades sighed. “I see.”

“So what do we do now? The longer he’s with my brother and his band of heroes, the more they’ll influence him,” James said, his voice becoming louder. “David will poison him against us and he’ll never want anything to do with us! You know he won’t!”

“Instead of throwing a tantrum, why don’t you do something about it?”

James scoffed. “Tried that once. Now they’ll be expecting me. Why not send in someone they think is their ally? Like Rumpelstiltskin. Isn’t he your new lapdog?”

“Yes, however he is quite reluctant to do my bidding. Powerless people tend to dislike the people who are blackmailing them,” Hades replied.

“So I’m guessing you didn’t send him on an errand?”

“No,” Hades said. “Why? Did you see him?”

James nodded. “Yeah. He was out and about. I didn’t think much of it, but I thought you’d like to know.”

“Interesting,” Hades muttered, his tone flat.

“So if he isn’t doing anything, why not send him to pick up the kid?”

Hades sighed before explaining. “Sending a man whose child’s life is in my hands to bring me _my own son_ to me is . . . How should I put it? Idiotic.” He paused, narrowing his eyes at James. “Cruella is still unaware of why I want the boy, correct?”

James rolled his eyes. “Of course. I am not like my twin. _I_ can actually keep a secret.”

“So you can,” Hades mused. “I take it that you haven’t told your brother yet?”

“Don’t see the point. He wouldn’t believe me anyway,” he answered, his blue eyes turned away from Hades.

A smirk flitted across Hades’ face. “Of course. Your reasoning has nothing to do with the fact that you wish to have something to hold over your brother.”

James looked at Hades, disbelief and suspicion coating his face. “You’re not angry?”

“Why would I be?”

James shrugged. “I don’t know. I figured you’d want him to know the truth . . . It wouldn’t hurt that the information would throw him off his game.”

Hades laughed. “Oh, James, though I would like David to know the truth, I can understand your need to have information that your brother would kill to know. Besides, if David was aware of his status, it would not work in our favor, I assure you. If anything, it would hinder our plans.”

“So he’ll never know?”

“I can’t say for certain,” Hades admitted. “He may get in the way of things to a great degree that only this information could get him to stand down for a while. However, for the foreseeable future, I see no reason why David should learn the truth.”

James knew a gift when he saw it. “Thank you . . . Father.”

This was the first time that James had called Hades his father. He had always referred to his biological father as Hades or sir so Hades realized that in return for his gift, James had given Hades a gift as well.

Hades’ face softened. “You are welcome, James. Now be a dear and fetch the boy. Zelena is growing impatient.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hades watched as his oldest son sauntered off to retrieve Hadrian, unable shake off an ominous feeling. Only the sound of incoming footsteps behind him tore his attention away.

“I worry as well, Hades,” Zelena murmured behind him, caressing his shoulder.

He held her hand against his shoulder. “Between the Sisterhood of Witches from Oz and my own family in Olympus, our son will be in great danger should anyone else learn of his existence. I fear that we will fail in protecting him.”

“Never!” Zelena hissed. “Between the both of us, Hadrian won’t ever suffer. We’ll be happy and safe . . . like a normal family.”

Hades’ grip tightened. “I pray that your words are true.”

* * *

 

Rumple had little trouble telling the group of heroes a little white lie about his whereabouts. It wasn’t as though they were all too concerned with his actions, but they were instead focused on the son of Hades and Zelena and would take whatever lie he told them. He couldn’t blame them for their lack of suspicion, however, because he too found his attention locked onto the demigod. The boy was young, thin, and scarred in more ways than one. The boy, Harry, seemed to be nothing more than a mere mortal with an unpleasant home life. However, Rumple could sense that there was something _more_ lurking under the boy’s skin. He couldn’t identify it due to the magical barrier around the boy, but Rumple had a survival instinct that ran deep.

And it was telling him to run. Far, fast, and _now_.

This reaction to the boy could be explained away due to the boy’s lineage being consisted of gods and Zelena, a very powerful witch. The boy, though restrained for the moment, possibly had access to power that was on par with his own magic if not _more_ than Rumple’s. If the boy truly had inherited magical abilities from both parents, it would explain why Rumple’s first impulse was to depart from the apartment and put a great deal of distance between himself and the demigod.

But that wasn’t it. No, Rumple knew that the reason was different. There was something _different_ about the boy.

Rumple circled the boy, watching him with careful eyes that searched for anything that could explain why Rumple was so unsettled. The demigod was seemingly unaware of Rumple’s movement and instead was sitting on the bed, seeing something that only he could see. That captured Rumple’s attention. What was the boy so focused on? It wasn’t as if he could actually see anything.

_Perhaps_ . . .

Rumple analyzed the boy’s form with sharp eyes. The boy was doing something, he was certain. But what? Rumple continued to survey the boy until something caught his eyes. Upon the boy’s forehead was a scar in the shape of lightning bolt. The cut was deep and appeared to be recent, but the skin surrounding it was aged and stretched. That betrayed the cut’s age and stirred up an inkling in Rumple’s mind. He had seen something like this before or had least read about it. The scar was familiar in shape, but not because it was like a lightning bolt. No, Rumple recognized it for reasons that he couldn’t put his finger on.

It took Rumple a few moments, but he finally remembered why the scar was familiar to him. Horror swept through him as he spoke.

“He’s been Marked.”


End file.
